When hurricane Katrina roared ashore along the Gulf Coast 100 days ago, it stirred up tons of toxic substances, much of which had been stored safely or buried benignly beneath the earth. But when floodwaters subsided or were pumped out of low-lying areas, they left behind sediment and sludge that oozed and then dried into layers of muck and dust that in some places remain hazardous. Just how hazardous may not be known for months or years. But as rebuilding begins and as officials allow residents to return to the worst-hit neighborhoods, government and independent scientists are getting a better idea of the risks — though they aren't always agreeing on the severity of the problem. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has tested sediments in more than 430 sites in the New Orleans area alone. The EPA found organic compounds, hydrocarbons, pesticides, and heavy metals, but in most cases the levels are "similar to the historical levels found in these parishes before Katrina and ... http://www.usatoday.com

Armed with camcorders, and even cell phone cameras, soldiers and Marines from the MTV and Internet generation are sending home adrenalin-packed video postcards and music videos. CBS News correspondent Vince Gonzales reports they provide front-seat views of combat unlike anything seen in any previous war. Soldiers are even attaching cameras to their helmets for a first-person view of the moments when war gets up close and personal. But many times, the enemy stays hidden. Whether it's an attack on a base in Afghanistan, a crowded Baghdad street, or a wide-open Iraqi highway. Sometimes the insurgents miss and video show soldiers cheering. Sometimes they don't, as another shows a car windshield shattering, gunfire and shouting. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/07/eveningnews/main1107217.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=World_1107217

The top U.S. general in Iraq was aware in June of reports that Iraqi security forces had abused prisoners in their custody, months before U.S. forces in November found a bunker filled with detainees badly beaten by Iraqi personnel, a memo obtained on Wednesday showed. "Over the past several months, I have received reports of serious physical abuse of detainees by ISF (Iraqi Security Forces)," Army Gen. George Casey, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said in a June 22 memo obtained by Reuters."I have forwarded those reports to the Iraqi ministries of defense and interior for appropriate action," Casey added. The memo did not state the nature of the abuse.Casey added that abuse of detainees by the American-trained Iraqi security forces "is a violation of Iraqi law and counterproductive to all of our intended efforts here."...http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051207/ts_nm/iraq_usa_detainees_dc

Delegates to an international conference accepted a new Red Cross emblem Thursday despite Syrian objections, paving the way for Israel to join the humanitarian movement after nearly six decades of exclusion. The 192 signatories of the Geneva Conventions approved the new "red crystal" emblem by vote after last-ditch negotiations between Israel and Syria over Damascus' demands for humanitarian access to Syrian citizens in the Golan Heights broke down. "I can inform you that the protocol has just been adopted," said Didier Pfirter, a Swiss diplomat who has been coordinating global efforts to muster support for the new emblem that would enable Israel to join the movement without having to use the red cross or Muslim red crescent already in use....http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1383663

Bitterly cold air spread across the Rockies and Midwest on Wednesday, closing schools, crippling cars and sending volunteers into the streets looking for homeless people to rescue.In West Yellowstone, Montana, a hamlet on the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park and a frequent icebox, the mercury plummeted to 45 below zero, shattering the old record for December 7 of 39 below set in 1927."I played taxi service this morning to a lot of my employees because their cars wouldn't start," said Gayle Archer, a manager at one of the town's motels, who watched other residents ski to work on unplowed streets.In Denver, the coroner was trying to determine if the death of a homeless man was caused by temperatures that dropped to 11 below....http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/12/07/cold.weather.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us

Kidnappers extended a deadline Wednesday for the threatened killing of four captive peace activists and posted a video of two of the hostages wearing robes and shackled with chains. The original deadline set by the group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness was Thursday. Al-Jazeera said it was extended until Saturday. Norman Kember, 74, of London, Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., and the Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, were taken hostage in Baghdad two weeks ago. They were working for the Christian Peacemaker Teams, an anti-war group....http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1383308&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312